Doors



March 20, 1956 CLARK 2,738,839

DOORS Filed Aug. 11, 1952 I d E: 52- 48 I INVENTOR PAUL ASA CLARK BY g;g g;

g txrromwsys United States Patent DOORS Paul Asa Clark, Atlanta, Ga.,assignor to Industrial Equipment Company, Atlanta, Ga., a corporation ofGeorgia Application August 11, 1952, Serial No. 303,656 3 Claims. cl.160-229) The invention relates to doors and panels therefor, andparticularly to doors of the type which are made in the form of severalhinged panels and are mounted for sliding upward into parallelism with aceiling.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a door of this typewhich is of simple and sturdy construction without using excessiveamounts of metal.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door of this typehaving a front face which is absolutely flush and free of allprotuberances.

More especially, the invention contemplates an arrangement of this typein which all of the hardware for mounting the door is secured thereto insuch a way that the front face of the door is not marred or disturbed inany way.

A further object of the invention is to provide a panel for doors ofthis type which is reinforced in a novel and very efficient manner sothat the door is capable of withstanding large wind stresses, and yetcan be made light in weight so that it can be opened and closed easilyand does not require heavy hardware for its mounting.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a door withreinforcements on the rear face thereof, the hinges which connect thevarious sections of the door and the rollers or other guide membersbeing mounted on and secured to these reinforced parts.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide such a doorpanel in which the reinforcing members are so arranged as to allow readyaccess to both ends of the securing members by which the hinges andother hardware are fastened to the door, so that any necessary repairsmay be made without the necessity of removing or otherwise damaging thevarious reinforcing members.

An additional object of the invention .is to provide a novel arrangementat the top of such a door for forming a seal between the door and theframe in which it is mounted. More particularly, this arrangement issuch that it can be readily adjusted so as to fit different openings inwhich the door may be positioned.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel arrangement atthe bottom of such a door for giving a seal between the door and thefloor of the building, so as to prevent the access of air underneath thedoor.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fullyfrom the following description, especially when taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-section, substantially on the line 1-1 ofFig. 2, through a door embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-section on the line 2--2 of F ig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the top sealing member; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of the back of the door.

The door is formed of several panels which are hinged to each other onvertical axes. Each panel consists primarily of a plate or sheet ofmetal having a plane section 2 which forms the front of the panel. Theupper edge of this panel is bent first rearwardly at 4, then diagonallyupward at 6, then again rearwardly 'at 8, then downwardly at 10 andforwardly at 12 The lower edge is bent rear-. wardly at 14, diagonallyupward at 16, rearwardly at 18, upwardly at and forwardly at 22.- Thisforms channels at the top and bottom of the member, which serve toreinforce it, and at the same time upwardly inclined portions 6 and 16will mate with each other as shown in Fig. 1 to prevent entry of waterthrough the door.

In the specification and claims,- the portions 10 and 20 have sometimesbeen referred to as inwardly directed,

. since they are bent towards each other from the upper and lower sidesof the panel.

At suitable intervals along the back of the panel are arrangedreinforcing members. 'These members each consist of a main portion 24,the upper and lower ends of which overlap and are welded to the inwardlydirected parts 10, 20 of the main member. One edge of the part 24 isbent forwardly at 26 and then laterally at 28, parallel to, engaging andwelded to the rear face of the front section 2. The other edge of themember 24 is likewise bent forwardly as at 30.

It will be noted that the forwardly bent member 30 and the forwardlybent members 12, 22 are terminated considerably short of the rear faceof the front plate 2. There is thus provided a space through which thehand or a tool can be inserted into the space back of the overlappedportions of the bracing member 24 and the inwardly directed parts 10 and20, in the manner shown in Fig. 4.

The successive panels are connected to each other by hinges of knowntype. These hinges are composed of two parts 32 pivoted together at 34,and supporting rollers 36 which engage tracks to guide the door in itssliding movement. The details of these hinges and tracks form no part ofthe present invention. However, the hinges are secured to the panels bybolts 38 which extend through both the portions 24 of the bracingmembers and the inwardly directed parts 10, 20 and by bolts 40 whichextend through the parts 24 of the bracing members only. It will benoted that the heads of all these bolts can be reached in the mannershown in Fig. 4, so that damaged hardware can be removed and replacedwithout tearing the door to pieces, and yet is mounted on the most rigidparts of the panels.

26, 28, 30 are shorter than the main part 24 of the brace.

The length of these parts is no greater than the distance between theforwardly directed parts 12, 22 of the main panel member, so that inassembly these braces can be merely laid against the main panel memberand secured thereto by welding.

Fig. 3 also shows an astragal or seal for the bottom of the door. Thisconsists of a rubber member having a strip-like section 42 which isbonded or otherwise secured to the upwardly directed part 16 of thebottom door panel, and an extension 44 which is normally circular inshape and is hollow so that it can be compressed against the floor 46when the door is closed.

On the rearwardly directed part 4 of the upper panel is mounted the topsealing member, shown in detail in Fig.

Patented Mar. 20, 1956' snrfaee' of the paneland=having its upper andl'ower edges bent to form-firstrearwardly directed par-ts, second?downwardly and upwardly directed parts respectively, and third forwardlydirected parts, the=freeedges. of said forwardly directed part-sterminating ata* substantialdistance fromthe' rear surface ofsaids'ection; and vertical brace mentbers each comprisingamain portionhaving its ends overlappingand secured to the outer faces of said secondparts and having along eachedge a first port-iomand a second portionbent'to wards the rear surfaceof said section, the first portion havingathi'rd portiom connected thereto bent parallel with and secured to suchrear surface, the free edge of the second portion terminating at asubstantial distance from such rear surface, said frrst,.second" andthird portions being shorterthan said-main portion and lying within thespace between the forwardly. directed parts.

2. door comprising a plurality of panels as claimed inclaim 1 hingemeans connecting adjacent panels, and means securingthe' hinge means tothe panels,at least some of said securing means extending through bothsaid second parts and the overlapping parts of said main portion.

the type described, compris- 3. A panel for doors of the type described,comprising a. main sheet. having a. section forming thesfront. surface.

of the panel and having its upper and lower edges bent to form firstrearwardly directed part-s, second parts directed diagonally upward,third rearwardly directed parts, fouth downwardly and upwardly directedparts respectively and fifth forwardly directed: parts, the free edgesof said forwardly directed parts terminating at a substantial distancefrom the rear surface of said section, and vertical brace members eachcomprisinga main portion having its ends overlapping and. securedv to;the outer faces of said fourth parts and having along each edge a. firstportion and a second portion bent towards the rear surface of saidsect-ion, thefirstport'ionhavingathirdportion connected thereto bentparallell with, and secured to such rear surface, the free edge of thesecond portion terminating at a substantial distance from such rearsurface, said first, second and third portions being shorter than saidmain portion and lying within the space between the forwardly directedparts.

ReferencesGitedsinthefile of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS"

